Modern touring motorcycles are built to provide comfort for touring over long distances. Because of the power and comfort, couples can ride together, seated one behind the other, and experience the open air, freedom and excitement of motorcycle touring. Often these touring motorcycles are fitted with radios, cellular telephones, compact disc players and the like to enhance the touring experience.
A drawback related to touring is that the driver and passenger seated behind the driver are open to the elements of sun and rain. While the open riding of a motorcycle where the riders are not located in a closed compartment such as that offered by an automobile is part and parcel of the riding experience, rain, hail and sun can detract from this experience. It would be advantageous to provide a degree of protection for the elements while maintaining the open air environment of motorcycle riding.
A further drawback is that the passenger seated behind the driver, because of the sound of the wind flowing past the motorcycle which may be traveling at speeds of 70 mph, has difficulty conversing with the driver or hearing the radio. It would be advantageous to provide a means to attenuate at least to a degree the noise imposed upon the passenger and driver.
Still a further drawback is that there is little storage space available on a motorcycle. Providing additional storage space while addressing the drawbacks noted above would be advantageous.
In the past, some of the drawbacks and concerns described above have been addressed by providing complete enclosures for the motorcycle driver and passenger as set forth in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,390 issued Oct. 17, 1995 to Gilbert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,147 issued Sep. 7, 1976 to Kelley, U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,196 issued Dec. 24, 1995 to Carter, Sr.. However these complete covers effect the stability of the motorcycle particularly where the riders experience gusts of wind from the side as those imposed by weather and by passing vehicles, particularly large vehicles such as tractor-trailer rigs. The full side surfaces of such covers provide a large area for the gusts to act upon.
Partial covers have also been developed such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,436 issued Apr. 3, 1984 to Giddens, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,987 issued Dec. 17, 1991 to Allen. While providing some protection and reducing the side area available for gust and wind imposed forces, these covers are not adapted to reduce noise effects nor contribute to the overall aerodynamic shape for the motorcycle.
It therefore would be desirable to provide a partial canopy for the driver and passenger which overcomes these drawbacks.